Earth will soon be at its farthest distance from the Sun
As Earth moves along its orbit, it will reach its maximum distance from the Sun on the evening of July 6, 2026, according to Zakon.kz.
This was explained by Olesya Romenskaya, head of the educational and methodological department at the V.V. Tereshkova Cultural and Educational Center in Yaroslavl, Russia.
“As it is known, Earth does not move in a circular orbit but in an elliptical one. Earth will pass aphelion — the farthest point in its orbit — at 9:00 p.m. Moscow time on July 6. The distance to the Sun will be 152.1 million kilometers. Compare this with January, when Earth passed perihelion — the closest point in its orbit to the Sun. That happened on January 2 at 1:00 a.m., when the distance to the Sun was 147.1 million kilometers,” Romenskaya told RIA Nowosti.
She also reminded that if the planet did not have an axial tilt, there would be no seasons, and Earth would receive sunlight evenly throughout the year.
“As a planetarium lecturer speaking with audiences, I notice that even adults are often surprised to learn that the seasons do not change because of the varying distance between Earth and the Sun. People are amazed that we are farthest from the Sun in the middle of summer rather than in winter,” the astronomer noted.
